Project Thunderhawk p2. prep

Today the mounting holes were drilled for the three belly searchlights and for the wingtip navigation lights.  The searchlights will be lit and should illuminate the landing gear while the Thunderhawk is on the base.  The navigation lights could not be mounted on the wingtips as would be traditional due to the placement and design of the wingtip bolter positions.  I assumed the craft to be readily visible from the rear with the huge engines firing and mounted the navigation lights on the leading edge of the wing just before the bolter positions.  This should give the best visibility.

Drilling the navigation mounts.

The searchlight enclosures were fabricated by turning some hard plastic boltcaps on a lathe.  Tomorrow they get drilled, have the telescoping swivel mounts fabricated, and have 5mm white LEDs set in. The cockpit will get a lighting feed with a blue LED.  The cockpit has yet to be fabricated so it will just be roughed in for the moment to test the loading.